BRIEFS

Premium gear for road contractor

Kubela-Meladi Civil Construction's work on an Eastern Cape road upgrade along Route 63 (R63), between the towns of Fort Beaufort and Alice, is now well advanced. Deployed on site is Kubela- Meladi's newly acquired Cat paving fleet that includes the first Cat AP300 model asphalt paver to see service in South Africa. Other Cat units on site comprise a PM102 cold planer (with its maximum cutting depth of 305 mm), a CB434 double drum roller and a Cat PF300C pneumatic tyre compactor. Along the R63, Kubela-Meladi's PM102 will perform the lion's share of the milling work, with a Cat skid-steer fitted with a cold planer attachment being used for small patch repairs and removing the existing asphalt prior to resurfacing. "Along the route we're milling to a maximum depth of 150 mm," explains John Aphane, head of The Caterpillar fleet has been deployed with success on a road construction contract. Kubela-Meladi, expanding on the construction programme, "and then replacing with a 110 mm bitumen-treated base, followed by a 40 mm asphalt wearing course topped with a single seal." The AP300, a triple-axle wheel-type asphalt paver, is fitted with the Cat AS3173 screed. Standard paving widths range from 1,7 m to 3,2 m, extending up to a maximum of 4 m with mechanical extensions added to both sides, the option chosen for Kubela's unit. Screed camber adjustment percentages can be preset from -2,5% to +4,5%. Commenting on the machine set-up, Barloworld Equipment's Cat sales professional, Robert Welcome, says that the AP300 was the optimal choice for Kubela- Meladi's current contracts. "Typical road widths are 7 m, enabling Kubela's AP300 to comfortably work in 3,5 m widths," he explains. Barloworld Equipment

'Green' forklifts

Goscor Lift Truck Company (Goscor LTC) is taking a leadership role in the development of an energy-efficient product for forklifts: compressed natural gas. The company is using a few specially converted Doosan forklifts at selected sites and is monitoring the situation. Goscor LTC national sales manager Patrick Barber says there are several advantages to compressed natural gas and its "green" effects are more far-reaching than energy saving alone. The need to investigate and develop alternate sources of fuels is important, so much so that the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) has introduced a Green Transport programme and supports several initiatives in this country, including compressed natural gas. "It is not only cost-effective to switch to alternate fuels such as compressed natural gas, but the widespread up-take of these technology applications will Cleaner and more fuel efficient forklifts are the focus of the development programme. also stimulate the green economy and over time foster traction in a new industrial sector and job creator," says Derek Batte, SANEDI's senior manager for Business Development. Meanwhile the rollout of compressed natural gas distribution continues unabated. The "mother" station in Langlaagte, Johannesburg, has a capacity of 1,5-million GJ. A second mother station will be established with an alternative source of methane to supply Gauteng, followed by further mother and filling station distribution networks in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. This will be spread to the Cape regions and then the company will expand infrastructure. A spokesman for CNG Holdings says that the use of compressed natural gas results in a 75% reduction of particulate matter and confirms that it will also offer crucial cost reductions of between 20% and 30%, depending on the fuel source substitute. Goscor Lift Company

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